


Our Reality

by Emybulby



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Trafficking, Angst, Angst and Fluff, Anything graphic will be avoidable, Except in the sad ending :), Fluff, Kidnapping, Langst, Multi, Multiple Endings, Other Reality, child trafficking, inspired by a dream, klangst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2019-10-09 07:54:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17403008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emybulby/pseuds/Emybulby
Summary: "Lance was sitting in the corner of the cold room, trembling and sobbing silently, making sure not to attract any unwanted attention from outside. He let himself fall slowly asleep, watching the only small stars he could see by the barred window up on the wall, with something heavy in his chest… Hope? Despair? He wasn’t sure anymore.-Keith put on his Blade of Marmora mask and exited the room with determined strides. Finally, they had found some solid evidence as to where the alien trafficking’s nerve center was.He had joined the Blades years ago, when they had saved him.Now, he was going to save Lance."ORKeith and Lance were adopted by Alfor, trained to be future Paladins of Voltron, and lived happily... Until they were both taken away from their new home and dragged into a real-life nightmare.





	1. Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi dear readers! 
> 
> This is a new fic I'm working on. I hope I can publish at least one chapter per week, but I can't promise anything, as I am still dealing with health problems. 
> 
> This first chapter serves mostly to give some background to the story and the relationships between the main characters. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it :) 
> 
> Thanks!!

Lance and Keith, neck and neck.

That’s what they had always been. From the day they met at the orphanage and even after they were both adopted by none other than the King of Altea, Alfor.

The King had been looking for kids who might have a possible connection to the Voltron Lions, . He and his allies had decided that it would be wise to train kids from a young age to become defenders of the universe one day. Lance and Keith knew that when Alfor explained what he expected of them. They were young and full of dreams. They wanted to help, to fight, to become heroes…

Alfor treated them like his own sons, he gave them education and cherished them. His daughter, Allura, was the same. From a young age, she learned to fight, but also to lead, as she would certainly become Queen of Altea in the future.

They were a happy family for a few years…

Until something terrible happened.

—

“You’re not winning this time, Mullet!” Lance exclaimed from the other side of the training room, aiming at the flying bots with his gun.

Lance was trained to be a shooter. He wasn’t a great close-combat fighter, but, with a gun, he was incredible. And he liked to be praised for it, so he made sure to always improve his skills.

“Pretty sure I am!” Keith retorted confidently.

Keith was incredible. He had inherited from his mother’s Galra genes on this aspect. He was a born fighter.

When the simulation finally ended, the numbers of bots they had taken down appeared on hologram screens in front of them.

“No way! I was sure…” Lance complained.

“Beat ya,” Keith told him with a cocky smile.

Keith was half-Galra and half-Altean. He had mainly inherited his mother’s features, but his dark fluffy hair was from his Altean dad.

As for Lance, he was fully Altean. He had white hair, tanned skinned, a little lighter than the royal family, and blue eyes. Under his eyes were light blue Altean marks.

“The machine must be broken,” Lance explained.

“No, it isn’t, I’m just stronger,” Keith replied.

“No, you’re not!” Lance retorted, visibly offended.

They were always fighting. That’s what it meant to be rivals. Yet, they both enjoyed the other’s company and were inseparable, no matter how much they annoyed each other.

“You are both as immature as always,” Allura commented as she entered the training room.

The two boys turned to her. She always liked to act like a grown-up, even if she was only a few years older. Well, the extra work she already had to do for her future role as the Queen pushed her to act in a more mature way earlier in life. The two boys didn’t have the same obligations.

“We’re 15, Allura. It’s normal to be immature, y’know,” Lance retorted.

“Anyway, I’m just here to tell you that dinner will be ready soon, so go get changed,” she told them, and exited the room.

They quickly put away their weapons and headed for their rooms to get changed. As they were running through the halls, racing to see who could get to the dinner room the quickest, they both ran right into Shiro and Coran as they turned the corner of the hallway. Keith and Lance, both being smaller, fell hard to the ground.

“Lance, Keith, no running in the hallways, you know it,” Shiro warned them.

Shiro was an elite guard for the royal family even at his young age. He was only about 5 years or so older than his two apprentices, but he was definitely the strongest Altean guard in history. Keith and Lance were determined to surpass him some day.

“Sorry!” Lance told him as he stood up right away.

Keith did the same and they both started speed walking away from the two men.

“Don’t forget your training session with me later, Keith!” Shiro told the raven-haired boy.

“Yeah, see you later, Shiro!” Keith dismissed him quickly, focused on his race with Lance.

Once they were out of sight, they started running again, smiling and laughing as if they were still kids. In the end, Keith went in the shower, put on new clothes and arrived to the dinner room before Lance. Lance arrived a few dobashes later, explaining that he had a longer routine than Keith, otherwise he would’ve been first. Lance always had an excuse for being behind Keith in everything they did. Keith was better in so many areas, not that Lance would ever admit it. At least, he wasn’t a genius engineer like Pidge and Hunk, so he was beatable. Right? Well, Lance was a strong believer that hard work and dedication would make him stronger than Keith one day. So far, it hadn’t worked much, because Keith was even more dedicated than Lance was. This boy just had a real fighter spirit in him, Lance was more sociable and friendlier. He needed to spend time outside of the training room once in a while, which was not Keith’s case. Keith wasn’t really sociable, except for Lance and some exceptions. Training was like his main hobby.  

Sometimes, Lance and Keith spent time with Pidge and Hunk. Pidge was the daughter of a famous Altean Alchemist, Samuel Holt, who worked closely with Alfor on scientific stuff that didn’t really interest the two adopted princes. Hunk’s family was renowned for their incredible cooking skills, so they were hired by the royal family to be their private cooks. That’s how they met Hunk and Pidge who had known each other since they were really young. Pidge was a gifted alchemist and software engineer, and Hunk somehow developed surprising mechanical skills. His family and Alfor himself acknowledged his talent later when Pidge and her brother bragged about his abilities. Hunk liked the attention, but his true passion was cooking.

“Dad isn’t here?” Lance asked as he took place at the table with Keith, Allura and their mother, Melenor.

“No, he’s on a diplomatic mission again,” Melenor informed them.

The dinner arrived just as everyone was seated. Lance always talked the most. He didn’t like the silence and he was naturally a lively person.

“…and then she showed me this cool robot she was building. Like, it’s super awesome, you wouldn’t even believe your eyes,” he told them.

“I suppose we’re going to have the pleasure of knowing more about it when it is completed,” the Queen replied with a warm smile.

She was a sweet reserved woman with a hidden strength that only her close family knew about. She could fight almost as well as the King and she was wise and caring. Lance loved her dearly, but Keith had trouble getting close to her. It was normal, considering that his own mother had abandoned him and his dad when he was only an infant. His dad had died a few years later and Keith was left alone. He had issues with mother figures now, but the Queen didn’t force him into any uncomfortable situation, which made things a lot easier.

“Yeah, she likes to show off her cool creations,” Lance admitted. “It’d be nice if she could build a robot for me too…”

“If you continue to annoy her like you always do, she might just build you one to shut you up,” Keith teased him.

“Keith, please, refrain from using that kind of language,” the Queen warned him.

“Sorry,” he replied while Lance stuck out his tongue happily in Keith’s direction.

The Queen glared at Lance who looked instantly apologetic. Keith was glad that she wasn’t acting bossy only with him. She was like that too with Allura, but the princess’s rebel days were already over. It had barely lasted a month and it happened about a year ago.

Lance and Keith were in their most rebellious days to be honest. They were experiencing, trying new things, breaking the rules and having fun doing things they shouldn’t, like playing with the soldiers’ equipment without permission or getting out of the Castle in secret whenever they had free time.

Life was fun though. It was a mix of adventure and training. Keith and Lance had agreed awhile back, when the two of them had snuck out one night to look at the stars on the Castle’s roof, that this was definitely the best time of their life.

Even if Keith had really good memories with his father, he couldn’t deny that life in the Castle, with his new family and friends, especially Shiro, whom he considered like a big brother, and Lance, was really pleasant. He wanted it all to stay like this forever.

But, of course, things were never so peaceful for a long time.

That night, just as Keith was getting back to his room from his training session, he saw Lance sneak out of his room.

“You’re such a bad ninja,” Keith laughed.

Lance stifled a terrified scream, startled by Keith’s presence.

“Shut up, Mullet. I just didn’t think I had to use my ninja skills at this hour near my room,” Lance replied. “Anyway, I’m going out. You coming?” He asked.

“I’ll pass. Shiro wants to have a morning training session with me tomorrow, so I really need a full night's sleep,” Keith replied.

“Oh, come on! It’s gonna be fun and we’re gonna be back before you know it,” Lance added.

“I’m not falling for that again, Lance. The last time you said that, we came back at 6 am and I had training at 6:30. It was hell,” Keith replied.

“Alright, Samurai, do what you want,” Lance told him and walked away.

Keith knew Lance could easily take care of himself, even with his young age and his title. He had good friends in the village and he was able to sweet talk himself out of almost any bad situation, contrarily to Keith who mostly instigated fights, with all types of people.

But there was something weird that night. After he had cleaned himself and was about to get changed into his pajamas, Keith felt some weird anxiety in his chest and his thoughts went right to Lance. Something inside him was telling him that he needed to find Lance.

Keith didn’t know why he listened to this strange inner feeling, but he did and found himself sneaking out and heading to town a few dobashes later. He knew where Lance liked to spend his time, so he went straight there. It was the beach just by the ocean. At this time of the year, with the comfortable warm weather, people hung out there almost all night. Bars and restaurants were open most of the night and people just enjoyed the place, like Lance did. When Keith spotted Lance, some kind of deep relief washed over him.

“Hey, Sharpshooter,” Keith greeted him, the sound of his voice startling Lance once more. “You really need to be more aware of your surroundings.”

Lance made an annoyed face.

“So, what are you doing here? I thought you wanted to sleep and be responsible, or whatever.”

“I… I don’t know, just had a feeling that you’d be lonely without me,” Keith teased him.

To his surprise, Lance didn’t take it as a joke and got back at him. He simply looked down with a little smile.

“I know this is gonna sound weird, but, hum… Yeah, I’d really be lonely without you,” Lance admitted, taking Keith off guard with his sudden honesty.

“Are you ok?” Keith asked then, sitting beside Lance.

“Yeah. I just wanted you to know that,” Lance explained. “Like, we’ve been together through a lot, and I know I always act like a goofball and I always bother you, and you do the same with me, but… You are really important to me, Keith.”

Keith was speechless for a moment, pleasantly surprised by Lance’s words. Why was he so honest now?

“You are important to me too, Lance,” Keith replied after a moment.

Lance’s eyes turned to Keith and he smiled softly at him.

A comfortable warmth settled in Keith’s chest at the sight of Lance’s feature lighted by the moon and the beach’s lantern.

Honestly, it wasn’t the first time it had happened.

He would never tell anybody, but…

He really liked Lance.

 


	2. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers! 
> 
> Lance and Keith have to go back to the Castle before anyone notices, but will they both make it?
> 
> I binged-wrote this story last night while I was having insomnia, and it'll be super angsty ^.^
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE: I changed their age to 15 yo. I had planned for them to be only 13 yo for the first part of the story, but I also wanted to put some heavy hint at Klance, and it didn't feel right for them to have the kind of feelings/behaviour I'm depicting at only 13 yo. 
> 
> Thanks!

Keith pressed himself closer to the comfortable warmth in his arms. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the pleasant coziness he felt. A soft smile appeared on his lips at the lovely scent that filled his nose. He knew this smell well…

Suddenly, the nuzzled form in his arms moved and slightly tightened their hold on his body. His eyes flew open right away. He looked down and found Lance sleeping peacefully in his arms.

Oh, no… They had fallen asleep looking at the stars and arguing about who would pilot which Lion. It had been nice, he remembered, but now he was completely flustered, and would possibly be late for his training with Shiro he realized, noticing the rising sun on the horizon.

“Lance… Lance, we fell asleep on the beach,” Keith told him as he separated quickly, but as gently as possible, from him. “I’m heading back to the castle. If I’m late to my training, Shiro’s gonna lecture me,” he complained. “See you at breakfast!”

Lance was still clearly not awake, but at least he hadn’t left without saying anything.

Keith didn’t like that he had to leave Lance alone on the beach, especially with the strange anxiety he had felt the night before.

But Lance could take care of himself, right?

 

-

 

Lance was walking slowly back to the castle, still not fully awake, and thinking about the night before, the conversation he had had with Keith and how they had somehow ended up leaning against each other, and fallen asleep in the arms of the other while stargazing.

What was going on with him?

Why was he feeling so strangely content?

Keith was his rival, but also his most loyal friend and his partner in crime. He knew about his insecurities and Lance knew about his. They made a good team…

At this thought, an image of Keith smiling appeared in his mind, and a pleasant warmth settle in his chest.

After a few seconds of smiling stupidly, he stopped abruptly.

No way…. Was it what he thought it was? Did he have feelings for Keith? The impulsive emo mullet-head? Well, Lance had to admit that the mullet grew on him through the years and his hair was really soft…

Ok, yep, he had a crush on him.

Shit… How was he going to deal with this now? Lance sighed in annoyance.

That’s when he heard it, the sounds of struggle near him. He headed towards the source right away and hid in the shadows of an alley as best he could, so he wouldn’t be noticed. When he finally saw the scene, he knew he would be lectured later by Melenor for getting into a fight…

They were a group of four aliens trying to forcefully bond a struggling and gagged Altean teenage girl as they dragged her toward the back of a vehicle. She looked terrified and the men looked amused, which instantly enraged Lance.

He had to do something.

He couldn’t tell the aliens’ origins because of the masks they had on their faces, hiding the lower half of it, but from their stature, he determined that he could certainly take them on all by himself, no problem… probably. What really mattered was to be able to let the Altean girl escape and then escape himself and inform the authorities of what had happened as soon as possible.

Easy, right?

He waited for the best moment to strike, and then he attacked the one that was having the most hold on the girl. He hit him on the neck, hoping to knock him out.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well as Lance expected. The man only stumbled forward, surprised.

Well, at least one of them wasn’t holding the girl anymore.

The aliens all looked a bit bigger now that he was closer to them, and he realized that they were probably all males. They smiled as their eyes fell on him and Lance gulped in reaction. He suddenly felt like a prey.

“Who do we have here?” The one who got hit asked as he walked toward Lance, looking him over with an unpleasant look of interest.

Lance took a small step backward, his confidence faltering for an instant, but, remembering all his trainings with Keith, Shiro and Alfor, and all the hardships he had endured, Lance quickly found the courage to stand strong once more.

When the other man took another step forward, Lance knocked him over with a well-practiced battle sequence, ending it with a strong punch to the face, successfully putting him out cold.

“The name’s Lance,” he answered, standing back up and looking to the others who now had really angry expressions on their faces.

Honestly, Lance couldn’t believe it had really worked. He usually failed pretty badly when he tried to show off. It must be his lucky day.

Two of them attacked him next, trying to grab him and hit him from different sides. He avoided every attack with clumsy agility. Then, hit as soon as he saw an opening. Somehow, he knocked them both to the ground in the end. They were still conscious, but dazed enough for him to finally help the girl, who was fighting with all her might against the last one holding her. When she pushed her shoulder against him, Lance saw the opportunity. He pushed the guy’s stabilizing feet from under him, and the man fell hard to the ground, and Lance caught the girl who was falling too just in time before she also hit the ground.

He smiled at her and delicately removed the gag preventing her from speaking.

“There you go, lovely lady,” he said with a proud smile, he liked to look in control of the situation, even if it wasn’t entirely the case.

The girl looked in shock and still terrified.

“Now run from here, I’ll make sure they don’t go after you. If you see any soldier on your way, tell them what’s happening,” he said.

“No, you’re… I can’t leave you alone with these brutes, my prince.”

He blushed a little at the title. Even after these last few years, he was still not used to it.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m also a future Paladin of Voltron,” he assured her.

She looked at him with uncertainty for a small moment, and then behind him at the men who were already getting up, way angrier than before.

“Thank you,” she said then and left, letting her survival instinct win over.

Lance was glad that she accepted, he didn’t have to worry about her anymore. He stepped in front of the men again as she ran away.

Now, he hoped soldiers were coming soon, because he doubted his luck would last much longer.

He wished Keith was here, he was a way better hand-to-hand combat fighter.

The men took out guns and weapons, and Lance cursed himself internally.

Could they come back to hand-to-hand fighting?

He was weaponless…

Damn it…

 

-

 

“Alright, we’re done for today,” Shiro announced.

“What? Already?” Keith asked, looking at the clock of the training room.

“It’s already time for breakfast.”

Time had gone fast, he realized. Like it often happened when he was with Lance. The thought brought him a small smile as he also remembered how he had woken with him cuddled up in his arms.

“Are you dreaming about food or about Lance?” Shiro asked, instantly pulling Keith out of his train of thoughts.

“W-what?! I’m not dreaming about Lance!”

Shiro laughed at his reaction. Keith turned his gaze away, embarrassed.

“Alright, maybe I was,” Keith grumbled.

“Come on, don’t be so grumpy about it. It’s ok, I saw the signs a while ago.”

“What? How?”

“You’ll understand better when you’re older. So… What happened last night for you both to spend the whole night out?”

Keith turned to Shiro with a surprised and confused look on his face.

“I’m a prodigy soldier, Keith. Things like these are pretty evident for me to notice,” Shiro explained.

It still took a moment for Keith to finally answer.

“We fell asleep looking at the stars,” Keith sighed, giving up any attempt to hide the truth.

“Oh, that’s really nice. When do you plan to confess?”

“Never!”

“Keith, you’ll have to one day,” Shiro replied with a discouraged expression.

“No.”

“Keith…”

“I won’t, Shiro! What if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if it ruins our friendship?”

“I’m sure Lance feels the same way, and, if he doesn’t, he treasures your friendship way too much to let your confession ruin everything.”

“I still don’t want to risk it.”

“Wait, you, the impulsive fearless Keith Kogane, are really saying this?” Shiro replied, surprised.

Keith only growled in annoyance and Shiro laughed lightly.

“Ok, I’m done annoying you with this for today. Let’s go eat,” Shiro finally surrendered.

Keith got back to his room and showered quickly. After that, he headed to the dinning room. He couldn’t deny it, he was excited to see Lance again. He had the rest of the day free, so maybe they could sneak out again or just hang out.

When he arrived, he noticed right away that Lance was missing, but also that Melenor seemed agitated.

“Keith? Have you seen Lance?” She asked right away, visibly concerned.

“No?” He lied, knowing that if he told the truth she would discover that they had sneaked out, and that would put them in real trouble.

She looked even more concerned now, and Keith really didn’t like it. Did Lance make it back to the Castle safely?

“Why do you ask?” He inquired.

“My Queen! We received notice that a young lady was attacked earlier in the village! Based on her testimony, the young prince intervened, allowing her to escape her assailants!” A soldier announced loudly as he entered the dinning room.

Keith’s heart skipped a beat.

No…

No, Lance was able to take care of himself! He was a great fighter!

They had sneaked out so many times without any incident! Why now?

Keith ran outside the room right away and headed to the village with only one thought in mind.

_Please be safe._

 

-

 

“Well, you sure know how to fight, young prince,” the leader told him, taking the Altean boy’s jaw and forcefully lifting his head up.

Lance was on his knees before him and 4 other armed men. Two others were holding his arms and making sure that he didn’t attack them anymore. Two of the four men he had fought earlier were still unconscious, the other two, who were holding him, were in bad shape, but he hadn’t wounded them enough to prevent them from moving and carrying out their leader’s orders.

He had been handling himself well, even if he was weaponless, and he had really thought that he could win for a moment, but then the leader and the other four men had showed up. He had still tried to fight them, and even to escape when he realized that he wasn’t strong enough to fight them all. It had been no use. The men had surrounded him, grabbed him and forced him on his knees in front of their annoyed leader.

The man was taller and more massive than the rest, his skin was a strange sick green and his eyes were bright yellow with slit irises. His other traits looked a lot like Altean ones, like his ears, face and general physical appearance. He didn’t have Altean marks however. Maybe he was a half-breed. Lance didn’t know, and, honestly, he didn’t really care. He just wanted him to stop touching him, and looking at him like he was a delicious prey.

“You’re young, and delightful to the eye,” the leader said, licking his lips.

Lance felt a shiver ran down his back, even if he still tried to appear strong. The leader seemed to sense it too as a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

He let go of Lance’s face and commanded his men to bind him and put him in the vehicle. Lance struggled for a moment, but they finally hit him behind the head and he lost consciousness. In the last seconds before darkness swallowed him completely, he mentally apologized to Keith.

He wouldn’t make it back to the Castle.

He would be taken away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ^.^


	3. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers!
> 
> Keith finds Lance, but what does it really mean for the both of them?
> 
> Sorry for the long wait! I was busy with many projects and school :) Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter! 
> 
> By the way, TRIGGER WARNINGS for this fic are in the tags! There is mention of underage non-con, kidnapping and child trafficking in this chapter... 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT :) 
> 
> Thanks!!

Keith ran as fast as he could, letting the intense unnerving feeling inside of him guide him through the streets of the village, in search of Lance.

He had to find him.

No matter what.

His instincts told him to turn at the next hallway, and just as he did, two vehicles passed in front of him. He looked at the front passengers and saw them all masked.

His heart squeezed strangely then, and he knew right away that he had to stop the vehicles. He went to take his late mother’s blade, but he quickly realized that he couldn’t throw it at one of the wheels, like he would have done, because he didn’t know in which vehicle Lance was, it could injure him. So, he looked around for a new solution. His eyes fell on a motorcycle stationed on the side of the road. He would have to apologize later for taking it without permission, but for now he needed it. He turned it on with a quick little trick with the cables under the handlebar. He had learned how to do that long ago, during his days at the orphanage. He was so glad he had now.

He sped up on the main road, following the vehicles he could see a few metres ahead of him. After a few minutes, he realized where they were going: the spacial port. Once there, he parked the moto at a certain distance from the vehicles, waiting for the right moment to strike. They were going to board a commercial spaceship, Keith noticed.

His eyes turned right to the back of one of the vehicles, where two men dragged an unconscious, bonded and gagged Lance.

Keith felt hot fire grow in his belly at the sight. These men had to pay. He would make them regret trying to take Lance from him!

But what mattered more was to get Lance to safety first.

He stealthily made his way inside the hangar where the spaceship was parked. He had never been this silent and careful in his entire life. He needed to do better than any other time. Lance’s safety was on the line. After a few minutes, he finally made his way inside the spaceship. He looked around, but couldn’t seem to be able to find where they had put him. He was getting angry quickly at his inability to find him. If he didn’t hurry, he wouldn’t be able to save him. The idea of leaving without him was unacceptable.

He remembered his mentor’s words then, “patience yields focus.”

Hidden in a dark corner of the spaceship, Keith closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He focused on what he was feeling around him, on the weird instinct inside of him that had guided him so far.

He found himself feeling it once more, leading him to some dark part of the spaceship, near the main engines. He stopped in front of what looked like a wall. His hand brushed against it unconsciously and he felt that something was wrong right away. He started exploring it with his hands and pushing against it, until the hidden door finally opened.

He noticed Lance right away, slumped against the right wall.

“Lance!” He murmured, gently grabbing Lance’s unconscious face in hope to see his beautiful blue eyes flutter open.

Keith barely noticed the movement behind him before a hand suddenly gripped his hair and forced him back away from Lance. Keith let out a cry at the pain it caused to his scalp.

“Let me go!” He screamed at them in rage, ready to fight back.

But then his eyes fell on the guns that were pointed at him. How could they have been so silent in their own ship? How hadn’t he noticed them before! There were four men surrounding him.

“Damn it. How did he find him?” one of them asked with a surprised tone.

“I don’t know but, I guess he’ll be coming too,” laughed the one holding him.

Keith’s head was banged to the doorframe, almost knocking him out. He felt blood drip down a possible cut over his left eye. The daze in which he was because of the hit made his struggles too weak to stop them. He was restrained like Lance and thrown on the left side of the hidden room.

He felt stupid and powerless as he watched Lance’s unconscious face until the door to the room was closed and it became completely dark. He was supposed to save him, not be taken with him.

He felt a heavy guilt in his chest at everything that was happening to them.

He should have never left Lance alone that morning…

He should have protected him…

Damn it…

 

—

 

“What? What does he look like? Is he saleable?” The leader asked, opening the door to the hidden room.

They had taken off a few minutes earlier. Keith didn’t know where they were headed, but he guessed it wouldn’t be a pleasant place.

“Yes, probably,” his subordinate answered.

The leaders’ eyes fell on Keith then and his expression turned to profound anger. “A Galra? Are you all stupid?!”

“W-what?”

“Galra are the worst younglings to sell. They are untameable and people don’t want to mess with the Galra people, so they don’t buy them.”

Keith frowned at the leader, not knowing what this all meant.

“What do we do with him?”

“Kill him,” the leader decided then.

Keith’s eyes widened as he slowly registered the order that the leader had just given.

“As you wish, boss,” one of the men said, pointing his gun toward Keith.

Keith looked at Lance then, knowing that it might be the last time he would see him.

Lance had his eyes wide open too and full of fear.

When had he woken up? Had he heard everything?

Keith’s eyes were apologetic and sorrowful. Lance would see him die.

He saw Lance move then and leap forward. Keith couldn’t anything to stop him. The gunshot resounded and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Lance’s entire tire body fell on top of him. Keith looked at Lance with panic in his eyes. He hadn’t felt the gunshot hit him. Did that mean that Lance… Lance’s eyes met his then and he saw the same concern. Keith shook his head to answer him the best he could with the gag preventing him front saying anything, Lance did the same and they looked around confused. That’s when their eyes fell on the leader and his subordinates. The leader had pushed his subordinate’s gun up, the shot missing them and hitting the ceiling above them instead.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Our lovely Altean prince seems to care a lot for the little Galra here. You truly fascinate me, Lance.” The leader then turned to his subordinates. “Take him out of there.”

Lance was lifted off of Keith, the both of them looking at each other in fear the whole time.

The leader crouched down behind Lance and brought his face so close to his that Lance could feel the man’s disgustingly hot breath on his cheek.

“Lance. I think I really like you…” The man started in a sickeningly sweet tone. “So, let me offer you a deal. I’ll keep him alive, just for you.” He suddenly tugged at Lance’s hair to bring his head back, as a way to show his dominance over him. Lance’s eyes teared up at the unpleasant feeling. “In exchange you accept to become completely mine. If you ever try to escape me or disobey me, I’ll make him suffer like you wouldn’t even imagine. I’ll make him scream and beg to be killed. What do you think? It’s a pretty generous offer, don’t you think?”

Keith tried to talk to stop Lance, but only incomprehensible sounds escaped the gag. Lance had his eyes closed tightly and Keith could see how his breath has quickened and his body was trembling. The leader removed Lance’s gag.

“I’m sorry, Keith…” He sobbed.

No… Lance couldn’t accept… He couldn’t…

“I… I like you a-a lot,” Lance added.

Keith’s heart skipped a beat. He was shocked and horrified by this whole situation. It couldn’t be real, it couldn’t… Nothing could really be as terrible, right?

“ANSWER ME!” The leader demanded, unhappy with Lance talking to Keith like this.

It had to be a nightmare. It had to!

“Y-yes… I’ll do it, I’ll do anything you want, just… please, let him live,” Lance finally replied, tears falling down the side of his face.

Keith screamed in disagreement, wanting this tormenting situation to come to an end…. To wake up from this nightmare. He tried to stand back up and physically oppose them, but the door to the hidden room was closed in his face.

He threw himself at the door, trying to force it open without result.

After a moment, he fell back down to the ground and cried in anguish.

He promised to do everything he could to save Lance one day.  

So, he could see him smile once more.

And be happy again with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!   
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!


	4. Parted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers!! 
> 
> Keith and Lance start their new lives as captives. 
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter! 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ^.^
> 
> Thanks!!

Lance was taken to another room containing a bed and basic furniture, and the door was locked. They kept him restrained. After a few hours, someone brought him food. Lance didn’t feel like eating, so he didn’t touch it.

That was a mistake.

After a long moment, the leader himself came to check up on him and noticed the untouched food. Lance didn’t think it would cause him any problem, until he saw the dark expression on the leader’s face.

“I don’t think you understand what position you’re in,” he said in a soft voice, that made Lance tremble.

He had always been the type of person to despise showing how terrified he truly felt, but something about this man just made him unable to hide his fear. Was it the untold promises that were implied in the pact he had made with Lance? Was it the knowledge that he was his property now? Or was it that the thing he really dreaded was that Keith’s life was in the man’s hands?

Probably a mix of everything…

Suddenly, the leader grabbed Lance’s arm tightly and dragged him to his bowl of food. He shoved his face in it and kept it in place until Lance was about to pass out. Once Lance’s face was removed from the bowl, he gulped in big inhales of air, panicked.

“This is the only warning you’ll get, am I clear?”

“Y-yes!” Lance exclaimed immediately.

“Good. Next time, it’s your little lover who’ll suffer from your disobedience, so don’t test me…”

Lance never felt so powerless and humiliated.

But Keith’s well-being was at stake.

He couldn’t let them hurt him.

He had to protect him.

No matter what.

 

-

 

The spaceship landed on a moon-shop. Keith was taken out of the hidden room and dragged to another spaceship.

He growled and struggled against his captors, determined to return in the other ship, to Lance.

“Oh, we’ve got a feisty one,” one of the new captors commented with an amused smile as he watched Keith being dragged to the other spaceship, where about 30 other prisoners like him were contained.

Despite his struggles, a collar was put around Keith’s throat and he was freed from the other bonds and the gag. His hands explored the collar, confused and scared. He didn’t know what it could do, but he didn’t care, he needed to get back to Lance. But just as he was about to sprint toward the former spaceship, another prisoner did the same. Keith wanted to follow him, and other prisoners seemed to think the same, but as soon as the escaping prisoner stepped outside, his head exploded.

Keith hardly kept the content of his stomach from being gloriously expelled out.

Others weren’t as lucky.

The smell even triggered others, it was a vomit fest amongst the prisoners.

“Ew, that’s disgusting!” one of their captors commented. “Next time, just electrocute the guy. For fuck’s sake… Now, we’ll have to deal with the smell all the way back to the mines.”

“We had to show them what could happen if they disobey us,” explained another.

“Well, they sure know now. Let’s go.”

It was the warning Keith needed to not act too recklessly in the future, deciding that it was probably better to not attract attention too much for now and just observe things for a while and then plan an escape.

Like Shiro had told him, “patience yields focus.”

He wasn’t going to mess things up this time.

Lance needed him.

 

-

 

Lance felt the spaceship land somewhere. A varga or so later, the spaceship took off again. Something inside him was telling him that Keith wasn’t on this spaceship anymore. Keith had been by his side for so long, and now Lance was again completely alone.

It was a familiar feeling. He was the sole survivor of a fire that had taken everything away from him years ago. An electrical error… His back would always be covered in scars where the fire had burned his skin, and his heart would always remain wounded by this terrible night. His mother, his father, his siblings, his home…. They were all gone. Keith had helped him get through the mourning process, even if he probably didn’t realize he had. He had made him feel like he wasn’t so alone, like he could still have people dear to him in his life…

What he felt now was even more terrible than when he had lost his family. Now he had lost all hope, his fulfilling future, his desire to live…

He cried in despair, unable to hold in the anguish he felt.

Soon, his true nightmare would begin, he knew it.

So, he also mourned his own sanity.

 

-

 

“Welcome to your new home!”

Keith followed the group out of the spaceship. They were in a large profound cave with many tunnels and such. They couldn’t see the sky and Keith doubted he could make it out of here by feet.

“Change into the garments given to you!”

Keith looked down at the rags in his hands. Well… It would be pretty different from what he wore as the adopted son of King Alfor. Keith obliged without a scene though. He needed to stay calm, to observe and analyze, endure it all so someday he would get out of here.

“When you are done, wait in line on the left where the sign is! You will be assigned an identification number and a work title!”

Keith followed the instructions without a sound. He noticed prisoners murmuring to each other. He wouldn’t dare do it, but their captors didn’t seem to mind it much. His old clothes were taken from him when his turn came to be assigned an ID and a specialization. He didn’t protest, it wouldn’t change anything anyway. What hurt most was to let go of his mother’s memento. That, he couldn’t help but glare at the receiving captor. But he repeated Shiro’s words in his mind, telling himself that he would get it back when he would make it out of here. For now he had to focus on escaping.

“ID: 40005391, First specialization: Cleaner. Second specialization: Miner.”

Keith was then led to his room. When he arrived, he saw that his 3 roommates were all around the same age as him or older.

“I’ll take the top bunk on this side,” one of them announced.

He had some Altean traits mixed with some Olkari traits. A half-breed like him probably. His caramel hair reminded Keith of someone though...

“Hey, I’m Matt. What’s your name?” The boy introduced himself.

That’s when it clicked. Keith had heard of him before. He had disappeared a year ago.

“You… No way… Are you Pidge’s brother?” Keith asked.

“You know Pidge?!” Matt exclaimed, looking surprised.

“Yeah, she’s a friend of Lance and I…”

Naming Lance reminded Keith of the last time he had seen him. He couldn’t help the sorrowful emotion that took over him.

“The universe has strange ways to do things, uh? I’ll see my sister again someday, I’m sure of it, and I’m sure you’ll see your Lance again,” Matt told him positively.

What a strange person, Keith thought. He looked unsure of his own words and way more terrified than he was showing at the moment, but Keith could also feel an unwavering determination in his voice. Pidge had talked about him, saying that he was brilliant, a genius, just like her, so he might be able to help him escape.

Yes, he guessed Matt was right, the universe had strange ways to do things.

It had made him cross path with him, but he still couldn’t help it…

Right now, Keith hated the whole universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ^.^


	5. Suffering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers! 
> 
> Lance and Keith experience their own hell... Will they both be saved in time? 
> 
> TW: mention of blood, mention of rape and underage nonconsensual sex...  
> THERE IS ALSO A REALLY TRIGGERING EVENT (WITH WARNING JUST BEFORE IT): GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  
> I'm not joking, this was triggering even for me... 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter! 
> 
> Thanks!!

When the spaceship finally landed again, Lance was forcefully dragged out of his room and led to a building. It looked old and dirty, the perfect place for a villain’s base of operations, he guessed.

“Welcome to your new home, my dear Lance,” the leader told him sweetly.

Lance wanted to protest, to tell him that he wasn’t his, that he would never be, but he couldn’t. He had made a deal with him... Tears appeared in his eyes and Lance looked down at the ground in defeat, bonded fist clenched tightly behind him.

Suddenly, Lance felt fire on his cheek. He was shocked for a moment before he realized what had happened.

The leader had slapped him.

“I don’t want any of that attitude. When I give you things, I want you to smile. Is that clear?”

“Y-yes,” Lance said, trying to smile in answer.

But then, the leader took Lance’s jaw and forced him to lift his head up. Lance’s blue eyes met the leader’s disturbing yellow ones.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Lance felt himself start trembling in fear again under the leader’s dominant presence. His captor smiled in satisfaction, and for a moment Lance thought that maybe he was going to leave him alone, but instead the leader dragged him to an empty room where he hit him again, and again, and again…

When it ended, Lance crawled up to a corner and sat there in a curled-up position, trembling and sobbing silently, making sure not to attract any unwanted attention from outside the room. He let himself fall slowly asleep, watching the only small stars he could see by the barred window up on the wall, with something heavy in his chest…

Hope? Despair?

He wasn’t sure anymore.

 

-

 

His hands hurt.

They were wounded from the hard work he was forced to do. Dirty bandages covered them, but it didn’t help much at this point. At least, they weren’t infected yet, and neither were Matt’s.

Matt was fairing way worse than Keith, not having the same stamina or strength. Even if Matt didn’t show it much, Keith knew.

The captives were working up to 16 hours a day with only a break for lunch where they were given an insufficient amount of barely comestible food. If they started slacking on the job, they received a painful jolt from their collar. Matt was a frequent victim of those.

Keith wasn’t able to rest well during his sleeping hours either.

Every time he closed his eyes, he relived the last time he had seen Lance. He found his thoughts wandering to awful places after that… What had happened to Lance? Where was he? Was he still alive? Was he treated well? Was he hurting?

Had the leader taken all his innocence already?

Keith and Matt couldn’t concentrate on planning an escape. They were too tired, there were too many security levels to pass, too many guards, and the collar. Matt could’ve truly helped, he was incredibly intelligent, but they were both so extenuated that they couldn’t think straight anymore.

He had found Matt spacing out a lot lately. This place was bad for them… Really bad… It sucked all the spirit and energy away from the captives until they died of exhaustion. He had seen people take their last breath during the past interminable weeks. He knew what awaited them if things stayed this way, but he couldn’t figure out how to escape this place other than by dying.

The only thing keeping him going was Lance.

Keith needed to stay strong for him…

Even if he felt utterly powerless.

 

-

 

Lance cried.

He cried until he had no more tears to shed.

He cried until his voice was raw and barely recognizable.

He cried until he felt completely numb, and had become only a shadow of himself.

His master had forced himself inside him. He had violated his body like no one else had, telling him that Lance was his property, that he was meant for this, that he was his master’s toy and would always be…

He repeated these statements every day, every time he beat him, every time he raped him…

Lance soon found himself believing his words.

It made sense in his troubled mind.

There was no hope anymore.

The universe hated him.

 

-

 

“What’s happening?” Keith asked Matt, confused by the alarm that had disrupted their monotone working routine.

It was stupid to ask, nobody could know anyway. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the collar around their throat fell to the ground. Everyone was in shock for a moment, touching their freed neck, and feeling the removed weight around it.

Some cried in relief at what it meant. They all ran to the exit, trampling over the suddenly powerless guards.

Keith followed Matt out. He couldn’t believe it. Was it a dream? Probably. There was no way this was happening, right?

“Keith!” He heard a familiar voice suddenly scream in the crowd.

The sound of it made his whole soul tremble. It was too clear, even in this chaos of people running to their freedom and saviors trying to help. Was it truly real?

“Shiro?” He asked softly, as if the name was sacred.

“Keith!” He heard again.

Keith ran toward the source of the call, feeling a pleasant heaviness settle in his chest for the first time in months… Hopefulness, yes, that’s what it was…

“Shiro!”

And then they finally found each other. Shiro was a ray of light in this incredibly dark place. He wore the Black Paladin armour and was surrounded by other fighters, dressed with black gears.

Tears fell down his cheeks as a relieved smile appeared on his lips. He ran to him.

With the same expression on his face, Shiro opened his arms wide and Keith threw himself into them with an energy he didn’t know he had.

And then he cried as his chest finally filled with marvellous emotions.

Had the universe had enough of tormenting him?

He didn’t know yet, but he was finally free.

He could finally go save Lance.

 

-

 

**(TW: graphic suicide attempt… Really triggering...)**

 

Lance’s couldn’t seem to regulate his breathing, due to the adrenaline and desperation that filled him, knowing what he was about to do. It hurt him too much to be alive…

“I’m sorry, Keith… I can’t do this anymore… I’m so sorry.”

Lance had found screw under his master’s bed, just underneath the place where Lance slept on those nights he spent with his master. Usually, he was brought back to his cold empty room, but sometimes his master was in a good mood and let him stay. Lance had silently taken the screw and managed to hide it under his too revealing clothes. His master liked to see Lance almost undressed.

Lance had had so many vicious thoughts that night. He could’ve killed his master, stuck the screw in his throat while he was still sleeping peacefully, as if he wasn’t the author of Lance’s hell. His master would’ve died bleeding out, killed by the teenager he had abused all these years…

But Lance was afraid. What if he missed? What if he didn’t die? His life would certainly become even more horrible… He knew what he had to do to really end all this.

Now, he was alone in his room, holding the screw tightly with one hand, his other wrist extended.

This was it… He didn’t want to live anymore, he had had enough of life.

He clenched his teeth and in a determined movement, stabbed himself with the screw. He let out a muffled scream, at the initial pain and willed himself to drag the screw over his skin, wanting to make as much damage as possible. Hoping that there would be no way to save him in the end.

It hurt like hell, but he couldn’t stop.

He wanted to die, he wanted it so badly… So, he pushed further and deeper. Blood poured out of the wound, and he only took out the screw when he was satisfied with the length of the laceration and the amount of blood that was pooling beside him. He took the screw with his other hand, now wet with blood, and did the same on the other arm.

After a few long seconds, he finally took out the screw again and dropped it on the floor before slumping against the wall behind him.

Lance let out a shaky laugh as rivers of tears flowed down his cheeks.

This was it. This was finally the end…

“I’m sorry,” he repeated softly. “Keith…”

He felt already dizzy and cold.

Everything around him was slowly becoming blurry.

It was hard to keep his eyes open.

It wouldn’t be long.

Soon, he would be free again.

Soon, he would be dead.

He closed his eyes slowly, thinking of Keith in his last moments. 

A soft smile appeared on his lips as he remembered him laughing and bickering with him. He opened his eyes one last time to look at the blurry stars outside the window up in front of him, wishing that the universe would at least save Keith...

Then, light filled his vision.

Was it finally the end?

“Lance!? Shit… Someone! Bring the doctor here right away!”

His master’s concerned face appeared in front of him.

Lance felt instantly hopeless once more.

No… No! No, he was so close!

Why couldn't he just die?!

Why...


	6. Agony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers! 
> 
> Will Lance and Keith see each other again soon, or will this endless hell continue? 
> 
> I hope you'll like this new chapter! PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! <3
> 
> TW: Kidnapping, child trafiicking, mention of non-con/rape, underage, drug abuse...

“I’m staying with the Blade of Marmora,” Keith announced to Alfor.

“What? But I thought… Keith, you’ve been gone for so long, why won’t you stay by our side?” Alfor asked, visibly confused.

“I need to find Lance. He’s still out there, captive, and with…”

Keith couldn’t finish his sentence. He was the only one who knew what had really happened the last time they had seen each other. He hadn’t been able to tell anyone about the offer Lance had agreed to. It hurt him too much.

“The Blade already has information on the organization that took us,” he finally finished.

“You’re a strong kid, Keith. I know you feel strongly for Lance, but we also care about you, probably much more than you could ever imagine. You are family, Keith. Please, reconsider your decision. We will also do everything in our power to find Lance, you know it,” Alfor told him, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder and looking at him with deep concern.

Keith felt a comfortable warmth settle in his chest at his adopted father’s words. He was family…

And so was Lance…

He smiled softly at Alfor and gently removed his hand. His expression then changed to show unwavering determination.

“Thank you for taking care of me and having so much faith in me. But I must save Lance as soon as possible, no matter what. The Blades are gonna further my training, and they were the ones who helped Shiro find me. I need their help to find Lance now.”

There was silence for a moment as Alfor took in Keith’s words.

Finally, the King sighed deeply.

“Fine, I don’t think I would be able to stop you even if I wanted to. You’re too stubborn,” he laughed. “But never forget, you will always find a home here, my son.”

Keith smiled at him. This meant a lot to him. He had been abandoned by his mother and his father had died many years ago. To have a home and be called a son… It felt almost unreal.

He needed to bring Lance back home too…

 

—

 

“So, what do you think?” His Master asked.

“It’s incredible, thank you so much, Master,” Lance replied with a wide smile.

It truly was. Lance hadn’t thought his Master would do something like this for him, but surprisingly he had. Now Lance’s room had been changed into an infirmary while he was in recovery from his suicide attempt. Every child or teenager that would pass by this base would meet Lance from now on.

Of course, there was nothing possibly dangerous in this room, but there was enough medical equipment to give first aid to the children. Lance hadn’t expected to be given more than what he had asked for.  

When he had been all healed up from his suicide attempt, his master had beaten Lance up and threatened to do worse to Keith.

Lance felt even more remorseful now. His master could’ve killed Keith, because of him. Yet… He just hated life so much. He wanted to be free again, and death seemed to be the only way.

After beating up Lance, his master had asked him what would cheer him up, motivate him not to try anything like this again. As if he really cared about him…

Lance hadn’t been able to answer right away, too much in pain and confused by the request. A few hours later, when his master visited him once more, Lance had asked to be allowed to help the children passing by the main base.

He had seen captured kids a couple of times already in the year or so he had been here. They were always either injured or terribly scared. They were never older than him. He felt bad for them, and he knew he couldn’t ask much to his master.

His master had hesitated for a moment, before finally accepting.

And now there they were, in this too clean prison…

“Leave us,” his master ordered to his subordinates then.

The door to his room was closed, and Lance turned fearful eyes to his master as the man walked toward him while undressing himself, a hungry smile on his lips. Lance shivered, knowing what was coming.

He didn’t move, didn’t scream, let himself be handled roughly by the other man…

There was no escaping him anyway.

He just had to endure it…

Until his master finally allowed him to die.

 

—

[5 Years Later]

“Sightings of this man, believed to be the mastermind of this whole operation, based on the description we received from the people we rescued, have been reported in the 24th sector of the 3rd quadrant of the Neustra galaxy,” Kolivan said while the image of a green-skin man appeared on the screen before the Blade’s group.

As soon as he saw him, Keith’s breath caught in his throat. A fire grew exponentially in his chest, pure destructive anger. He wanted him dead. He wanted him to suffer like he had made Lance and him suffer all these years. Keith might not have been captive for as long as Lance had, but the past years, desperately searching for Lance knowing deep inside that he was certainly hurting somewhere in this damn universe, always unreachable, had been hell for Keith. He just wanted him back, he wanted to hear his laugh again, see his beautiful blue eyes once more, hold him close… Make him happy…

“We also received intel of a possible hidden moon-base in the 20th sector that might be related to this organization. A group of scouts will be sent there in the next hour to investigate. If the information is proven right, we will carry out a takedown operation right away, so stay on alert in the next few days until further notice.”

Kolivan started naming all the selected Blades for the scout mission. Keith was waiting to hear his own name with expectation, but he never heard his name and everyone was finally dismissed. Unhappy with Kolivan’s choice, Keith walked up to him right after.

“Send me there too!” He demanded.

“No.”

“Why?”

“You are emotionally involved.”

“Why does it matter?!”

“You are impulsive when emotional. If you act recklessly like I know you would, you can endanger this whole operation. You must be patient…” Kolivan explained simply.

“Patient…” Keith repeated, annoyed by the choice of words. “I have been patient enough all these years, and he still isn’t back, is he?!”

There was silent for a moment.

“You are already unstable. Follow my order.”

Kolivan left then and Keith could only growl in anger.

He was tired of being patient.

It had been so long already.

He needed Lance back…

 

—

 

“Hey,” a young Nalquod woman said, appearing in the doorframe to Lance’s room.

The door was never locked anymore, and sometimes it was even left open. It wasn’t like Lance hadn’t tried to escape over the last years. There was just no escape, and every attempt had left him always more hurting, either physically or mentally.

The last time, his master had dropped an amputated calloussed half-Galra hand in front of him after having beaten him up. It was Keith’s…

Lance had been sick.

He couldn’t fight anymore, his master had told him that there would be no more chances, that he was taking his anger out on Keith too from now on.

Lance had cried in remorse for days after that.

He really couldn’t risk hurting Keith more. So, his prison was no more simply physical, it was invisible, but he could almost feel the unpleasant weight of the shackles on his wrists and legs.

It was hopeless, there was just no escaping this hell…

“Hey, Tria,” Lance answered with a wide smile. “What brings you here?”

Tria was a member of this organization. She was an incredible fighter and an intelligent woman, but she had been caught with the wrong people and couldn’t seem to escape her own hell now either. At least, she was somewhat still a bit free. She had a sister too, younger than her, that she protected and kept away from all this. She was also the reason why Tria was stuck here, forced to follow their master’s orders.

At least, she was too strong to be abused like Lance was…

“A new shipment is arriving in a few hours,” she told him.

“Oh…”

“And… the master wants to see you before you see them,” Tria added, knowing what it meant.

All colours suddenly drained from Lance's face. When his master wanted to see him before, it was either because he wanted to let out frustration on him, or because he had a special request. Special requests were the worst. So far, he had not faced many of these situations, fortunately. Most of the time, they wanted to “play” with the kids, asking Lance to give them new drugs and see the effects.

Lance had tried refusing once, and he had worse than any of the kids would have. He had been given a hallucinating drug until he almost overdosed, while being fucked and beaten by his master repeatedly for weeks.

The traumatizing memories of this event had him trembling like a leaf as soon as they barely crossed his mind.

“Ok. Thanks for telling me,” he answered, turning his back to her, trying vainly to hide his fear.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured before leaving.

Silent tears fell down his cheeks.

He was just so tired of it all…

Would it really ever end?

It all felt endless.

Agonizing…


	7. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers! 
> 
> Keith and Lance are slowly getting closer to each other...
> 
> Sorry for the long wait! I'm not letting this fic down, but I've struggled to sit down and write lately (#writerstruggles). Anyway, I hope you'll love this fic :) 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT :D
> 
> Thanks!!

Keith put on his Blade of Marmora mask and exited the room with determined strides. Finally, they had found some solid evidence as to where the alien trafficking nerve centre was.

And again, he just couldn’t follow Kolivan’s orders, but this time he really didn’t care.

So… He went straight to the hangar and sneaked on the scouting ship. Simple as that. Most Blades were not super cautious in their base, knowing that usually they all respected the rules and no unwanted individual could enter their base anyway. But, obviously, Keith was a bit different from them. He was impulsive and was not a fan of respecting the rules and all. At least, he had become an incredible fighter under their care and Kolivan was still tolerating him. Well, he might not be tolerating him anymore when he would know about him boarding a ship without authorization. Keith would have to deal with that later…

 

—

 

“This is Romelle.”

Lance’s master introduced the little girl to him.

The Altean boy couldn’t move or say anything. He was shocked to see another Altean in so long. The poor thing looked like she was maybe 17 years old, a bit older than Lance had been when he had been kidnapped 4 years before. She was trembling and her big pink eyes full of fear were looking at Lance as if he could save her. But… he couldn’t… he was too scared of what would happen if he failed…

“She’s gonna be like your little sister from now on.”

“W-what?” Lance stuttered lifting confused eyes to look at his master’s yellow ones.

“You heard me, Lance, don’t make me repeat myself. She’s gonna stay here with you and be mine just like you are.”

It took a few seconds for Lance to find his breath again. It couldn’t be… No…

He grabbed his master’s arm then, even if the man disgusted him. He had to do something, try and change his mind! He couldn’t let someone else experience the same horrors as him.

“Master, I can do anything you want, please let her go. I can satisfy you entirely,” Lance pleaded.

“Oh, are you jealous, Lance? Or… are you defying my order?”

Lance froze. His master’s tone had become terrifyingly cold in a second. Lance felt like an incredible weight had suddenly been put on his shoulders and he found himself facing the ground and letting go of his master’s arm.

“No, of course not, I wouldn’t dare defy you,” Lance answered, unable to meet his master’s eyes again.

The man was too intimidating to Lance. He had scarred him in so many ways and Keith’s well-being depended on Lance’s obedience. The Altean boy couldn’t do anything but comply, too scared of the possible consequences of stepping out of his very limited bounds.

“Good. Then prepare her for me, I have things to take care of for now, but I want her nice and pretty when I come back.”

Even without looking at him, Lance could hear the alien’s disgusting expression in his voice, a hunger for something that didn’t belong to him.

“U-understood,” Lance agreed, swallowing a wave of nausea.

His master left the room and locked the door behind him, untrusting of the new captive… and maybe Lance too. Once he was gone, the little girl broke down in tears and Lance finally lifted his head to look at her. He just couldn’t let her cry, he had experienced too much pain in this place already… If he could just make it stop… But Keith… He had already suffered so much, because of Lance…

“Hey, Romelle, right? Please, look at me,” Lance tried, getting close to her.

She didn’t answer.

“Are you hurt?”

The girl looked at him then. “What is he gonna do to me?”

Lance was unable to answer right away. He knew what she was going to experience, what kind of hell this place was. Whatever she had in mind already, it would be way worse than that.

“I… don’t know yet, but, like he said, you’re now my little sister, so I’m gonna be by your side through whatever happens, ok? You’re not alone.”

She looked up at him and seemed a tiny bit calmer at his words. That was a win in his mind…

“My name’s Lance by the way.”

“L-Lance? Like the lost prince’s name?” She asked, a bit curious now.

“That might actually be me,” Lance admitted with embarrassment.

“Everyone has been searching for you!”

There was a sudden light in her eyes that seemed almost unreal to Lance in such a dark place. It filled him like his soul had been starving for it for so long. It took him a second to come back from the shock it caused him, and when he did, he tried to show the same light to her as best he could.

“Really? Then, they’ll certainly find us,” he told her, but visibly it had been too long since he’d been truly hopeful, it was a shallow feeling now.

The little girl looked less scared now, and that’s what really mattered to him in this instant.

“Now, let me take care of you, ok? I’ll make you as beautiful as the princess you are, little sister.”

He saw a feeble smile appear on her lips and that was all he needed to proceed, even if he hated himself for what he was taking part in. He wasn’t like his captors, but every time he had to obey his master’s requests regarding new “shipment,” he felt more and more like a monster too.

He tended to her with as much attention and care that he could give her with his little means. She ended up opening up about her family. She had a little brother and lovely parents. She wanted to go back home… Lance wanted to go back home too.

“I guess that my little brother will do like yours if nobody finds me soon… He’ll just look for me himself,” she said at some point.

“What do you mean?” Lance asked, confused then.

“Well, my brother is really righteous and likes to play ‘saviour,’ so I guess he’ll do anything to save me.”

“No, I mean, what you said about _my_ brother…”

“Ah, Keith, the second Prince, he’s been looking for you since they found him, 4 years ago,” she explained.

It took a moment for Lance to process the words, but when they did, it was like he had been hit by a train. He felt dizzy and stunned… Keith… Keith was not captive anymore?

Suddenly, he took Romelle’s shoulders and looked directly in her eyes.

“They found him? They found Keith?” He asked with a shaky exhale, his heart beating loudly in his chest.

This couldn’t be true. His master had said that Keith was still his captive, that he had hurt him because Lance had tried to kill himself. He had lied? All this time?!

“Yes, last I heard, he has been working with the same secret organization that found him. The King said that he was determined to help them find you. He’s an inspiration to us all. You… didn’t know?”

Lance felt tears stream down his cheeks then. He couldn’t stop them.

Keith was free.

He had been free all this time, and Lance had suffered thinking that he had to protect him. He was so glad… So happy… It was like he could finally breathe again and let go of his fears.

He could fight back!

Lance stood up then, wiping off his tears and looking at Romelle with a strange determination.

“Ok, we’re gonna do something,” Lance started.

He looked around, formulating a plan in his mind.

“Ok?”

“I won’t let Master touch any of us anymore. I’ll protect you, but I’ll need you to hide until I tell you to get out, not before. Do you understand?”

“Are you sure?” She asked, fear growing in her eyes once more.

“Yes. We’re getting out of here. I’ll get us both home,” he said confidently, a smile on his lips.

She looked at him with a similar expression, trusting him completely.

He guided her to an almost empty cabinet. After that, he searched the place and was able to find a few instruments that might be of help in his plan. Then, he waited for his master.

It had been a long time since he had last fought someone, but he had nothing holding him back anymore. Keith was free, so Lance didn’t have to worry about his well-being anymore. He was getting out of there too, and bringing Romelle with him.

He would see Keith again.

After all these years…

 

—

 

“Keith, lunch is ready,” Ulaz called.

Keith cursed from his hidden spot. Seriously? How?

“How did you know I was here?” Keith asked, getting out, knowing that it was useless to stay hidden.

“We’re masters in infiltration and stealth really isn’t your forte,” Thace commented from the table.

“Damn it.”

He joined the two Galra men at the table. He started eating the full plate they had prepared for him without shame. He was honestly starving, so it didn’t really bother me much and they didn’t seem to mind either.

“So, is there anybody else on this mission?” Keith asked.

He hadn’t noticed anybody else, but he wanted to make sure of it, as they had stated, they were infiltration experts.

“Yes, this is a scouting mission, no need for many members. Oh and Kolivan also knows you boarded this ship without authorization,” Thace answered.

“Oh. He wants me to go back?”

“No, he expected you to act irrationally and could have stopped you, but ultimately decided to let you go.” Ulaz told him.

“He kind of have a soft spot for you,” Thace added with an amused smile.

Keith felt embarrassed by Thace’s words, he knew that already. Everyone was talking about that amongst the Blade members. Some were angry at this favoritism, because Kolivan let him be more unruly than others, and some preferred to use this to make fun of Keith. They were saying that he was like the son Antok and Kolivan never had. Keith didn’t remember much from Antok, but every time someone mentioned him in front of Kolivan, a profound sadness settled in the Galra’s eyes for a moment. Keith could sort of understand how the older Galra felt.

He missed Lance probably as much, or maybe even more…

“Anyway, we still have a few quintants left before we reach the nearest moon-stop from the sector we must scout. At least, you won’t be starving till we get there,” Thace informed him.

“I can handle a few days without food,” Keith countered grumpily,

“So, I guess that’s unneeded,” Ulaz said then, reaching out to grab Keith’s plate.

Keith pulled the plate away from Ulaz’s hand with a small annoyed growl, and the older men laughed at his reaction. They were always like this with him, teasing him because he was the smallest and youngest amongst the Blades. Still, he liked going with them on missions because they were dedicated to their cause. Sometimes even a bit too much… It was unsettling to see them fight and all as if sacrificing themselves was inevitable.

Keith’s eyes wandered to the stars outside.

He always wondered how far Lance was from him.

Sometimes it scared him to think of while looking at the infinity of the universe.

He wanted Lance close to him again, to hold him tight, to feel him his comforting warmth in his arms and never let go… He missed him so much, his bright smile and endearing goofiness. His sun-kissed tan and his dreamy blue eyes.

It had been too long…

Too damn long since the last time he had seen him and heard his playful laugh and his charming voice. Keith used to think that Lance was too noisy, but now he was lusting for listening to him talk again, and feeling his lightening presence once more.

He needed to tell him about his unwavering feelings too.

Over the years, they had only grown stronger.

The love he had for him would never fade.

He had promised himself that...

 


	8. Unreal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers, 
> 
> Lance faces his tormentor and Keith talks to Kolivan. 
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter :) 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT <3
> 
> Thanks!!

Lance heard the door being unlocked and his whole being started shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. It had been too long since he had last fought someone, too long since he had tried to get away from there… He was terrified, he had almost no confidence left in his old skills, but he had the courage to still try. This one last time.

The door opened and Lance was almost struggling to breathe now. He had to do this.

His master walked in, his brow furrowing when he noticed Romelle’s missing presence. His eyes fell on Lance after a few seconds, and the burning anger in them almost burned Lance alive.

“Where is she?” His master asked, grabbing him tightly by the neck.

Lance struggled against his bruising hold. He thought it was hard to breathe before, but now he just couldn’t take in air anymore. He was terrified, he wanted to cry, and he felt stupid… Why was he fighting already? He didn’t want anybody to suffer because of him…

He didn’t want Keith to…

Keith…

Oh. Right…

One hit.

“TELL ME!” His master yelled.

Another hit.

Lance looked up at him, swallowing back his fear and facing his tormentor for the first time in years. He was used to getting hit, but it didn’t mean Lance wasn’t angry too.

“You lied to me,” Lance hardly said through the tight hold on his neck.

“What?”

Lance’s hand took something hidden in his back and tried to plunge it inside one of his master’s eyes with all the strength he had, wishing it to go as deep as it could inside his head, and that maybe it would kill him. Lance had only used a small plastic-like cylinder that used to be covered in bandages. It was risky, but Lance knew he had to at least try. But then, his master grabbed Lance’s wrist. Lance could barely register what was happening before a loud crack resounded in the room, followed by Lance’s broken scream. His master threw him to the ground, where Lance fell hard on his head.

When he regained consciousness a few minutes later, he heard screaming. His fuzzy mind and blurred vision tried to identify the source, and when he finally recovered his bearings, he found it right away. His master had discovered Romelle’s hiding spot and was forcefully taking her out of there. Through the pain and muddy feeling, Lance stood up and crashed into his master.

“DON’T TOUCH HER!”

The roar was unexpected even from him. Did he really have that much fight hidden inside of him all this time? Or was it the possible concussion he had that made him irrational?

Lance was hit, but everything was too confusing around him. He found himself under his master, who was straddling him and holding his uninjured arm in place to the ground. His master took out his gun from its usual encase behind his back and pointed the barrel right at his forehead.

Lance was again a trembling mess, completely terrified at the idea that he was probably about to die without having been able to do anything to help Romelle.

“You sadden me, Lance. I thought we were clear about being disobedient. You know what, I think I’m done with you anyway. Got a new toy now,” his Master said, removing the gun’s safety. “Oh, and your lost lover, remember? We already killed him.”

“Liar!” Romelle screamed then, grabbing the master’s arm holding the gun and taking it away from Lance’s forehead.

The gun was triggered, but the bullet only hit the ground beside Lance. The Altean boy took this opportunity to free himself from his master’s hold and grab the gun from his master’s hand. Lance pointed it at him then and everything stopped. Romelle let go of their master and ran behind Lance.

“You wouldn’t dare do that,” his master told him then. “You’ll never be free anyway, Lance. My men will go after you two. They’ll capture you again and you will experience a worse hell than you think you experienced with me. I treated you better than any whore I know, so let’s make a deal instead, ok? If you drop the gun, I will never hurt her. Of course, she’ll have to stay here because she already saw too much, but I promise I won’t hurt her.”

Lance was scared. Everything was in his hands now. He knew that if he pulled the trigger, it didn’t mean that it would free him from all his misery. His master was right. He would be chased throughout the universe, and Romelle too.

“W-what about me?” Lance asked.

“I won’t kill you. You’ll stay here, with her, and do what you were born for,” his Master answered simply.

Lance felt nauseous. He wanted to cry, because this simple explanation said it all. He would remain his Master’s toy. But, if he agreed to this deal, at least Romelle would not suffer more, right? Lance’s eyes darted toward Romelle behind him. Her eyes were full of fear, but also the same warming light that Lance wanted to protect.

He was at war with himself, his trauma and his resurgent hopes.

“Lance… Don’t…” Romelle tried, but she couldn’t understand what it really meant for them.

She only wanted to go home, but Lance also wanted to minimize their pain.

At least, stop others from suffering.

Keith…

“I… I…“ Lance started, dropping the gun, ready to accept this awful deal.

But then, a gunshot resounded in the room, and his master’s eyes widened in shock. Lance’s tormentor of all these years, the man he hated most in all this universe, had a bloody hole right in the middle of his chest. His master lifted a hand to touch the wound and brought it back wet with purple blood right in front of his eyes, before falling hard to the ground.

Lance and Romelle remained stunned and unable to move, talk or even breathe for a few seconds.

“Let’s go! We have to leave now!” Tria screamed at them, forcefully bringing them back to reality.

Lance looked at her, and realized that she had been the one to kill their master. Still unsure on how to react, Lance only followed Tria’s orders. Following her through the maze-like base.

“We’re gonna take one of their ships to escape.”

“Your sister…” Lance mentioned then.

She was the most important person to her. She couldn’t leave without her right?

“She’s… already gone,” Tria answered, clearly trying to hide the immensity of pain she truly felt.

Lance couldn’t say anything anymore. Everything was just so unreal to him. Was he having a dream? Or maybe a nightmare? It was all so confusing and terrifying… He was so tired…

“Lance? Lance!” He heard Romelle scream, and then darkness swallowed him whole.

 

—

 

“We are nearing the moon-stop, and should be arriving in 0.63 quintant,” Ulaz informed Kolivan.

“As predicted. Send an update as soon as you reach the moon-stop. Our members stationed there will join you and help you refuel for the rest of your mission. And Keith, behave yourself under their command. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kolivan looked at him with doubt. Keith had already lost Kolivan’s complete trust in following orders years ago, but now it was worse. Well, at least he didn’t seem too angry at him.

“Is Shiro also aware that I’m gone?” Keith asked, knowing that he would also have to deal with him later.

Shiro hated when he did things like that, because Keith had already disappeared once and it had scarred him deeply. Over the years, even if Keith was now part of the Blades, Shiro had remained like a brother figure to him. When Keith had struggled with anxiety and PTSD after being saved from the mines, Shiro had helped him through it.

Now Shiro was well on his way to become the Black Paladin’s successor. A Paladin gear had been given to him and he wore it all the time now, instead of his former Altean guard gear. It suited him well.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been in contact with Takashi over the past movement. We have tried to request communication from the Altean Castle, but hour calls have yet to be answered.”

“What? How is that possible?” Keith asked, a pang of worry growing in his stomach.

“We don’t have any further information yet. We will notify you when we have news on the subject.”

The communication ended abruptly and the three Blades parted. Keith’s mind wandered to his family on Altea. He hoped nothing bad had happened to them. They were all strong and capable fighters, even Coran, so he should not worry that much, right?

 

—

 

“…ance? Lance, can you hear me?”

Lance felt fuzzy and confused. What was happening? Where was he? He looked around, his vision still blurred. His head hurt a lot. He blinked a few times before he finally recognized Tria and Romelle leaning over him. When he did, the memories, still a bit foggy, of their escape came back to him. Well, except the part where they actually escaped.

“What happened?” He asked, trying to sit, but finding it difficult to simply do that with the sudden dizziness and nausea, and the awful pain on his left arm… oh, right, it was probably broken now.

Tria instructed him to stay down, and he didn’t protest.

“We are in a ship. We made it out,” Tria informed him.

“Oh, ok, that’s great.”

Tria and Romelle exchanged a concerned look.

“You probably have a concussion, so we’ll have to find a doctor, and until then try not to do anything crazy, ok?”

Lance nodded and his eyes met Romelle’s watery ones.

“I… Thank you so much, Lance. I was so scared, but you fought him and… and… I’m sorry you almost failed because of the deal,” she told him then, voice emotional and full of guilt.

“That was stupid though, Lance. You really thought he would respect his deal? He’s a monster, remember? He would have played you if I hadn’t shot him,” Tria told him, angry.

“Sorry, I know, I just… I was scared,” he admitted.

A heavy silence fell on them. They could understand to some extent. He had been abused mentally, physically and sexually for 4 years. It was normal to be traumatized and scared. Tria was already surprised that he had even found the courage to oppose him. Lance might appear small and weak, but he really wasn’t. He was more courageous and honourable than most she had met in her lifetime.

“It’s ok, just relax now and try not to fall asleep again. We’ll get you to a doctor as soon as we get to the nearest moon-stop.”

Romelle stayed by his side and made sure he stayed awake. She talked the whole time, trying to cheer him up with her stories. She was smiling so brightly and he was happy he met her and that she told him about Keith. He missed him so much, but at least now he knew that he had been free for years, that he hadn’t suffered as much as him. It was weird though, being on his way home when for years all that had defined him was that he was a captive and would never ever be anything else. What would he do with his life? How would it feel to meet his family again? What if… What if they couldn’t see him the same? Could he even do that for himself? If he looked in a mirror, would he still see the scars his captor had left on him? Will the light in his eyes truly be gone? It scared him…

“We’re here,” Tria finally informed them.

Romelle slowly helped Lance up in a sitting position, and his eyes fell on the front windows. A bright moon was right ahead, many ships flying around it.

Lance’s eyes widened as he looked around.

All he had seen of space these past 4 years were the only visible stars out the barred window of his room.

This luminous sight in front of him now was another reminder of his regained freedom.

It still seemed so unreal, but he smiled softly at the warm feeling in his chest.

He loved space so much, but he couldn’t wait to be home again.

Soon… Soon he would get back to Altea.

Back to Keith…


	9. (Word from the author)

Hello dear readers!!

I have a few WIPs on AO3 (including this fic) and on Tumblr... I don't have the inspiration I used to have when I started them, but I decided to try to at least finish them (because it's sad when a fic you like remains unfinished). I can't garantee that it'll be high quality, but at least you will be able to have some conclusion ^.^

So, look forward to new updates!

Thank you for your constant support! <3


	10. Liberty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers!!
> 
> So this is a really small chapter, but I think it's a great start to finishing this fic! What do you think? :)
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT <3
> 
> Thanks!!

“There is an emergency,” Kolivan told them seriously.

They had reached the Blade’s base on the moon-stop, but almost as soon as they had arrived they had received an urgent message from Kolivan.

“We finally got to communicate with Altea. There has been an incident. The King and Queen of Daibazaal have both lost their lives in battle. The rift on Daibazaal is reaching an alarming state. On Alfor’s orders, Daibazaal will be destroyed.”

They all remained silent for a long moment.

“What?! How did this happen?!” Ulaz exclaimed. “What about the Galras?!”

“They will all be evacuated. Dabaizaal is too unstable now, so it is already too late to save it.”

“No, that can’t be…” Thace mumbled, shocked.

“Funerals for our King and Queen will be held tomorrow, and after that the planet will be evacuated and wiped out, as ordered by King Alfor and the other Paladins.” Kolivan sighed and then gazed at Keith directly. “You are required to come back to the main base as we will help in the evacuation of Daibazaal.”

“What? But we’re so close to finding Lance!”

“Our priority has changed. You follow my orders this time, Keith.”

Keith was about to object, but Thace stopped him with a hand on his chest and a serious look. Keith looked at the other Galras all over the room. They were all shocked and serious. Keith understood then how major this whole thing really was. They had just lost their leader, and now they were about to lose their home.

He felt bad for acting like his own problems were more important, but he was so close…

He was so damn close to Lance, he could almost feel it. After all these years… Could he really just abandon the search for him once again?

“Understood,” Thace answered for everyone.

The call with Kolivan ended and then everyone was moving and getting prepared to leave the moon-stop base.

Thace looked sadly at him before leaving the communication room. He knew how hard it was for Keith to turn away from Lance when they had such a good lead, but they had no choice.

 

—

 

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Tria asked, worried as Lance winced while standing up, holding his left arm.

“Yeah, of course, I’m ok!” He tried to sound confident, but the two girls saw right past it. They could see that he had trouble staying upright due to his concussion. He really needed to see a doctor soon. “Can’t stay here anyway,” he mumbled with a sigh when he noticed their still concerned stares.

Tria didn't insist and instead turn around to take some dark used clothes that were lying around in the ship. She draped them over the two Alteans, making sure to cover their heads.

“You two stand out too much. Like this, we’ll mix in the crowd a bit better. Now, let’s go.”

They nodded and made their way outside the stolen ship. When Lance felt the cool caress of the wind on his skin, he almost had a breakdown. It felt so good… so damn good to be free…

He hid the tears that inevitably fell down his eyes. He felt like he would probably cry a lot in the near future. Being held captive in the same room by an abuser for years and then being free again had this effect. He was just really grateful that he was finally out of this hell. Even if he was still hurt and scared, at least he wasn’t captive anymore, at least he could feel the wind on his skin, see the sky in its entirety…

At least, now he could fight to maintain his liberty, not only as an unrealistic dream.

He could truly hope to see Keith again one day...


	11. Turmoil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi dear readers!
> 
> Here's another small part! I'll probably keep posting small chapter like this until the end....
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!
> 
> Thanks <3

They had been wandering around for a few hours already, and still couldn’t find a doctor. Lance was starting to get really exhausted. He didn’t want to admit it, but Tria and Romelle could see it clearly.

He wasn’t walking super straight and a sheen of sweat was covering his skin. He looked like he was about to pass out. It concerned them a lot.

“We should ask around a bit…” Romelle offered.

“No… If we get recognized, we won’t be able to escape them.”

“Yes, you… You both will be able to escape,” Lance mumbled then. “If anything happens, you two have to run away, even if you have to leave me behind, ok?”

“Are you crazy!?” Romelle exclaimed.

“Like hell!” Tria agreed.

Lance suddenly collapsed on the ground, letting out a low whimper when his broken arm hit the ground. Tria and Romelle were beside him in seconds, placing him carefully on his back.

“Too dizzy…” He commented.

“H-hey! Don’t pass out, ok?” Tria told him, her voice sounding worried.

Lance looked at the sky above. It was a bit blurry, but he could see it becoming lighter with the upcoming day slowly rising on the horizon. Ah… He missed this kind of warming light from a close star.

“Lance? Stay with me!” Romelle encouraged, quickly becoming to panic.

Tria cursed loudly beside them then and rose up suddenly.

“Someone! Please, we need a doctor!” She screamed, not caring about all the attention that was directed to her then.

Lance felt guilty, he knew that this could get them in trouble, but there wasn’t much he could do anymore. His eyelids felt so heavy right now.

“No, Lance keep your eyes open,” Romelle pleaded, but her voice felt far away.

Ah, he was such a burden to them…

 

-

 

There was a commotion near him, but he didn’t care. Keith just kept walking, needing to let out some stress.

He had completed his part of the preparation to leave for Daibazaal, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Lance. He knew he didn’t have a say in his superior’s decision this time, but it still annoyed him deeply. He had dreamed of seeing Lance for so long, of embracing him tightly, of getting him back to their family… How unfair it was that everything had just gone to shit on Daibazaal at this exact moment, just as he was probably on his way to save Lance.

He headed for a less occupied area of the moon-stop. He needed some time alone before they left, to calm down a bit.

Lance… He wasn’t giving up on him even if it took him a bit longer to save him.

They would be reunited some day. Keith would do anything for this to happen.

Anything…

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT <3
> 
> You can also find me on Tumblr as Prettygoo-d :)


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